| Dear Katy, Republicans in Congress have been waging war on women for decades. Now, emboldened by Donald Trump's misogyny and Mike Pence's right-wing religious extremism, the House just passed an abortion ban.1 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to bring the bill to the floor of the Senate as well. From their attacks on sexual assault survivors, the Affordable Care Act, abortion rights and birth control to their attacks on immigrants, Muslims, people of color and LGBTQ people, Republicans are playing a dangerous game with women's lives. We have to push back now. We must show that there's not only massive opposition to this abortion ban, but to Republicans' entire extremist anti-women agenda. We need to make sure our allies know we have their backs, ensure that every Democrat holds the line and put anti-woman senators on notice that when they try to take away women's rights, we fight back. Tell the Senate: Block the 20-week abortion ban. Click here to sign the petition. Republicans are relentless in their attacks on abortion. They mandate waiting periods and ultrasounds. Their medically unnecessary rules for abortion providers close clinics and intimidate doctors. The Trump administration was recently in court for trying to prevent an undocumented minor from getting an abortion.2 These attacks keep women from having autonomy over their bodies and lives and reinforce the misogynistic belief that women are not capable of making their own decisions. They also chip away, bit by bit, at Roe v. Wade's full protection of abortion rights and create a slippery slope of exceptions that lay the groundwork for a complete rollback of Roe. Now Republicans are trying to ban abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy. Banning abortion after 20 weeks takes crucial medical decisions away from women, their families and their doctors at a moment when, more often than not, something terrible has occurred with a pregnancy. The bill that the House just passed is exceptionally cruel: - It makes no exceptions for rape and incest unless women report to authorities or undergo mandatory counseling.
- It requires that abortion providers ensure that the fetus survives, unless doing so would pose a grave medical risk to the pregnant woman.
- It punishes abortion providers who perform abortions after 20 weeks with fines or prison.3
- It uses junk science to lift up the false claim that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks.4
It is also clearly unconstitutional since Roe protects a woman's right to choose an abortion up to the point of fetal viability (which occurs well beyond 20 weeks). Can you add your voice today to demand that the Senate block this dangerous bill? Tell the Senate: Block the 20-week abortion ban. Click here to sign the petition. We know that when abortion rights are under attack by right-wing extremists, CREDO members are always there to defend them. We have helped hold the line against congressional and state-level attacks before. It is time to do it again. Anti-abortion extremists are already threatening to use the vote on the 20-week ban against vulnerable Democrats facing reelection in 2018.5 We must stand together now to make sure Democrats hold the line against this Republican attack and show Republicans that we won't back down. Tell the Senate: No playing politics with women's lives. Block the 20-week abortion ban. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Senate_Abortion_Ban?t=8&akid=25736%2E12967895%2Eht2x-p Thank you for your activism, Heidi Hess, Senior Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: 1. Anna North, "The House just passed a 20-week abortion ban. Opponents say it's 'basically relying on junk science.'" Vox, Oct. 3, 2017.
2. Ruth Marcus, "The Trump administration is holding a teenager hostage over abortion," The Washington Post, Oct. 23, 2017.
3. Jessie Hellman, "Graham brings 20-week abortion ban to Senate with 45 co-sponsors," The Hill, Oct. 5, 2017.
4. North, "The House just passed a 20-week abortion ban. Opponents say it's 'basically relying on junk science.'"
5. Christine Grimaldi, "Republicans to Use 20-Week Abortion Ban Against Vulnerable Senate Democrats," Rewire, Sept. 27, 2017. | 
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